Memories of a Pirate
by Goldenstargirl
Summary: Kaya is healthy and happy and is now living her life to the fullest. The only thing that could make things even better is if she had her old friend back. Little does she know she just might get her wish. Chap 3 up. Rating changed because of language.
1. The Surprise Letter

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime One Piece.

A young girl sits next to the window waiting for someone she will never meet again. The wind from the open pane blew her hair into her face and she sighed as she absently brushed a stray lock from her face.

"Will I ever see him again? Hear his loud rapping on the glass? Listen while he tells me stories about the places he has been and the things that he's done?" She closed her eyes dejectedly. "Oh Usopp please come back. I want to see you and know your okay."

She sobbed softly and rested her face in her hands. She knows he wont come - it's been much too long and she hasn't seen him in two years. But still…she couldn't stop thinking about him. He brightened her world and every time he visited her a weight lifted from her shoulders.

He made life easy for her, made her feel free when once she felt confined like a bird in a cage. Reality was such a harsh thing, but with him beside her she could escape into fantasy and forget her troubles for a while.

Now though all she could think about was how miserable she was without him. Ever since realizing that the sickness was only in her mind she has tried to live every day to the fullest and enjoy the things life has to offer her.

On days like this however, she stays in bed and gazes out the window waiting for him. She knows that she has him to thank for her recovery and she vowed that if he should ever return to her that she would repay him for helping her heal by being there to nurse him back to health if he should be sick or injured in any way.

When once more she glanced to the window and saw no one there she made a sad sound and lay down on the mattress to cry herself to sleep.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

When the butler Merry came into the girl's room to check on her he found her sleeping restlessly.

Shaking his head he moved to tuck her in securely and a piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Merry picked it up and noticed the messy writing scrawled on it. He stared at it curiously for a moment and then glanced warily at his sleeping charge before proceeding to read the hurried writing.

"_Sorry I couldn't stay and talk; I'm really in a hurry and have to drop this letter off before I move on. I want to know how your doing and what you've been up to. I've missed you a lot and I hope you've been thinking of me too. Don't worry about me - I'm fine and unharmed. Well of course I am after all a mighty pirate like me doesn't get injured so easily. You'll have to try really hard to hurt a big strong man like me! Anyway I'll probably be visiting again soon so I hope your looking forward to it. I know I will be. It will be so nice to see you again Kaya after being apart for so long. I gotta go now so I'll leave this next to you and hope you'll find it when you wake up._

_U. _

After the initial surprise passed the man smiled faintly and laid the note back on the comforter.

It seems her friend had returned and would be visiting again soon. He knew this would make his mistress very happy as she'd been feeling a bit down lately.

Smiling warmly at the girls sleeping form he turned and quietly exited the room.


	2. No Longer Just A Memory

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime One Piece.

She read the note for the third time her hands clenching the paper so tight that her knuckles turned completely white.

"No way…it can't be. Has he really returned to me?"

Upon awakening and finding the letter she thought it was a joke. There was no way that he was actually contacting her again after so long. But it was definitely his hand-writing - she'd know it anywhere. After the initial shock her emotions did a 180 and she was suddenly filled with indescribable joy.

He had come back and he would be returning soon to see her! She was so happy to finally be able to see her friend again after such a long separation; just knowing that he was alive and well brought fresh tears of gladness to her eyes.

But when would he return? Tomorrow? In a week? Month? …Year?! Oh if only she knew for sure then she could stop worrying so much about it! She had gone so long without hearing his voice, seeing his face, feeling the warm touch of his hand over hers that it was just about driving her insane! She needed to be near him again, but she didn't know why the need was so urgent or why her heart beat so fast at the mere thought of him.

She pictured his face. The long straight nose that she secretly thought was his best feature. The big black eyes. The wide comical mouth. The long dark curly hair…

She blinked snapping out of her reverie.

Dear god…was she…blushing?

She must be getting sick again. Yeah that was it. Better ask Merry for some pills and a glass of water.

She paused that thought remembering the way the long-nosed boy used to laugh confidently and tell her about how he defeated some huge killer crab by crushing it with a stick, his expression serious and straight-faced for a good half-second and then he would burst out laughing the contagious giggles making her laugh as well.

She smiled unconsciously from the memory and forgot completely about her return 'illness.' What was important was not how long it took him to come back but that he _came _back at all.

With that final thought she hopped out of bed and started getting ready for the day ahead.


	3. An Unexpected Visitor

It had been hard convincing his crew to visit the town again. It wasn't exactly the most exciting place that they've been to but they gave in after a fair bit of begging on his part, mostly because they knew why he wanted to go back. It had been almost two years since he last visited Kaya and everyone knew how much he missed her. For the past week all he could talk about was her and he seemed distant at times and spaced out a lot. Everyone (except Luffy of course) figured out almost immediately that he was suffering from a bad case of 'Kaya-sickness' and the only cure was for him to see her again.

When they journeyed to the village the first time they had only planned to stay long enough for Usopp to deliver a message to Kaya telling her about his adventures and asking about how she was doing. But when they learned later on after taking leave of the town that he had actually written to tell her he would be returning soon the entire party rounded on him angrily and he nervously explained that he really wanted to see her again, that the visit would be short and they would be sailing the seven seas again in no time. He thought for sure he would receive a very severe beating from the furious crew but to his surprise they were perfectly fine with it in the end.

So now they were back at his home town. Luffy, Zoro and Nami of course went to find something to eat while Usopp went straight to Kaya's mansion.

Usopp climbed agilely up the tree to Kaya's window eagerly expecting the girl to be there on her bed waiting for him. His gleeful smile faded when he saw her room was empty. Where was she? She was always here when he came by…but not this time. Why?

He suddenly smacked his forehead as a sudden realization struck him.

Of course she wouldn't be here as usual - she didn't know he would be here today; he didn't specify a date for his arrival and even he didn't know he would be back so soon, so how could she have possibly known?

With a resigned sigh he sat on a branch to wait for her to return.

'Damn, your such an idiot! You should have sent her a letter telling her you were coming before you decided to arrive, dumbass! Jeeze how stupid can you be?! Idiot, idiot, **idiot**!'

He inhaled and exhaled slowly and once he had calmed down he decided to use the time to figure out what stories he should tell Kaya. Now that he had been on quite a few _real _adventures there was plenty to tell.

He was just in the middle of one of his stories when he realized that the adventures he had been on, while they were awesome and exciting, weren't nearly as fun as the made up ones that he used to tell to Kaya every day since the day they met.

He hoped she wouldn't mind if he continued his old habit of telling her fibs and tall tales to make her laugh and spared her the terrible true stories that he had really lived through.

He suddenly saw that telling her those stories might upset her somewhat. He did get hurt quite a few times and almost got killed on a couple of their dangerous adventures. He couldn't bare seeing the horror and shock on her face if one word of what he'd been through were to pass his lips in her presence. He would have to go on telling his lies, anyway it was what he did best. He wasn't ashamed to admit it either. He was good, no great, no the _best_ at telling lies and everyone knew it. He could say that an angry horde of mutant snowmen were coming to attack the village - in the summer no less, and the villagers would believe him! …Or maybe not since everyone here knew he was a liar.

He chuckled a little at that. His reputation was renown everywhere in the village and that's just how he liked it. The people loved and respected him, "Usopp The Proud" and, though they wouldn't admit it, they were thankful to him for stirring them up and bringing a little excitement into their boring lives.

Before he could think on that further a soft voice broke through his thoughts.

"Usopp? Usopp is that you?"

The unexpected interruption startled him so completely that he jumped, lost his balance and fell backwards barely catching himself by grabbing onto a branch above his head. Kaya watched aghast as he pulled himself back into a sitting position on the tree.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! Did you hurt yourself?"

The liar laughed lightly and shook his head.

"No way. A little fall like that couldn't hurt a powerful pirate like me, The Great Captain Usopp!"

Just as he had planned his proud tone and words sent her into a frenzy of giggles and he lifted his chin and smiled arrogantly for effect.

Once the girl had caught her breath she giggled once more and leaned a bit out the window with her arms resting comfortably on the sill.

"Oh Usopp your just as funny as I remembered. I really missed you."

"Yeah I missed you too," he said honestly. "I'm sorry I stayed away for so long. I just couldn't resist the open seas and adventure."

"Adventure?" Her big eyes grew even wider. "Oh please tell me about it! Tell me about the journey's you went on and adventures you had. I'd love to hear all about it."

"Uh…umm…" he gulped audibly. "I…uh…of course I have many stories to tell you. A great many. Listen while I tell you about the time I fought a 12 foot tall giant pirate with huge muscles the size of boulders and a nasty sneer terrifying enough to send the bravest man alive running away in fear…"

He told his story exaggerating greatly about many details but Kaya didn't seem to mind. She knew he was lying but loved his tale none-the-less. Fairytales and fantasy's were her greatest joy and the long-nosed liar was the best at telling fictional stories. It was one of the things she loved most about him. He could take her out of the real world and pull her into a land of fantasy and imagination. And she loved it.

"Wow that sounds amazing! I wish I could have been there."

"Oh no you couldn't be! It was much too dangerous."

"But I love danger." She laughed her pale face flushing a light pink.

"Still I'm glad you weren't there. Your life would have been in mortal danger."

"That's okay because I would have you to protect me from any harm." She smiled at him affectionately and he blushed slightly turning his face away to hide it.

"Yes, well that is true. I could protect you from anything. Because I'm-"

"The Great Captain Usopp?"

He blinked at her in surprise and she snickered cutely.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. Anyway do you want to come with me to the beach? Now that I'm well again I can go on my own. It would be so nice to talk a walk by the sea and talk about things."

Usopp grinned and nodded. "Sure thing. I'll wait for you to get ready and meet you when you come out."

"Sounds like a plan."

She closed her window and Usopp jumped to the ground and started hitting inanimate objects with his slingshot to pass the time until she came out.

A/N: Not the best way to end a chapter but I'm under a lot of emotional pressure at home and have to call it a day for now. The next chapter might be up in a few days, you'll have to wait and see.


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